Oxford Development Plans 299-Unit Apartment Community in the Strip District

A 299-unit apartment complex is slated to rise on the Allegheny riverfront in Pittsburgh’s Strip District. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Oxford Development Co. is proposing the construction of a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units on four acres of land between 26th and 27th streets.

A 299-unit apartment community is slated to rise on the Allegheny riverfront in Pittsburgh’s Strip District. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Oxford Development Co. is proposing the construction of a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units on four acres of land between 26th and 27th streets. The site is currently used as a truck terminal by Pitt-Ohio Express, which is moving to a new facility in Harmar.

The city’s zoning board of adjustment will review the project on December 19. Oxford is seeking approval to build a multi-unit residential development with off-site parking in an urban industrial zoning district.

According to Ben Kelley, the company’s development manager, Oxford is planning to break ground on the project in spring and deliver the first apartments at the beginning of 2015. Upon completion, the complex will offer a total of 233,000 square feet of space across five and a half stories.

“There’s enormous opportunity in the Strip District for this type of product. It’s in demand and it gives us the ability to invest in an area of the city that we have not previously done so,” Kelley told the newspaper. “The access to Downtown and the amenities available create a really good opportunity for us in our home market.”

Other residential projects planned for the Strip District include a 59-unit apartment complex at Smallman and 11th streets, which is being developed by Shadyside-based Schreiber Real Estate.

Also, Sampson Morris Group is converting the 330,000-square-foot New Federal Cold Storage Building into 144 apartments, while Charles Hammel, Pitt-Ohio Express president, and his wife, Kristen, are proposing the redevelopment of a warehouse at 25th and Smallman streets into 11 two- to three-story residences that will each feature an integral two-car garage.

In other multifamily development news, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Fore Property Co. is planning the construction of a five-story, 240-unit apartment building next to the Dormont Junction Light Rail Transit station on West Liberty Avenue. The Port Authority has recently entered a one-year exclusive negotiation period with the developer. If approved, the $39.8 million project known as “The Junction” would take about a year to complete.